John coley hill and james doody



' (No Model) J. G. HILL & J DOODY.

HAT STIPFENING MACHINE. No. 289,911. Patented Dec. 11,1883.

UNrTED ST TES ATENT Fries.

\ JOHN COLEY HILL AND JAMES DOODY, OF BROOKLYN, NEVJ YORK.

HAT-STIF'FENING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 289,911, dated December 11, 1883. Application filed October 9, 1883. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JOHN COLEY HILL and JAMES DOODY, of Brooklyn, county of Kings, and State of New York, have jointly invented certain new and useful Improvements .in Hat-Stiffening Machines, of which the. following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

Our invention has relation to machines employed in the operation of applying stiffening material to or in the bodies of hats, and these are ordinarily known as hat-stiffening machines.

The object of our invention is to provide a simple, durable, and efficient machine of the character above named, by use of which the stiffening may be applied to the portion of the hat-body intended to form the brim Without soiling or stiffening the remainder or crown, in which the stiffening may be rapidly and thoroughly applied, and the final dipping dressed off with diminished pressure, and which may be conveniently operated for the purposes intended, not liable to get out of order, and adjustable or capable of being regulated, so that it may be employed for operation upon all sizes and thicknesses of hat-bodies. To accomplish all of this, our improvements involve certain novel and useful arrangements or combinations of parts, peculiarities of construction, and principles of operation, all of which will be herein first fully described, and then pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, Figure 1 is an end elevation of a machine or apparatus embodying our improvements. Fig. 2 is a partial plan and horizontal section of the upper part of the ma-.

chine. Fig. 3 is a front elevation. Fig. 4 is an axial section of one of the boxes employed upon the rollers, the same being shown enlarged beyond the scale of other figures; and

Fig. 5 is an elevation (also enlarged) of the spreader employed for forcing the rollers apart when required. Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the knife-carrier detached. Fig. 7 is an elevation of a hat-body upon which the stiffening may beapplied.

In all these figures like letters of reference,

wherever they occur, indicate corresponding parts. 1

A A are side plates which support the operating mechanism, the same being of any size and form suitable for the purpose.

B B are the rollers journaled in the side plates, or in boxes thereon, between which.

rollers the hat-body is made to pass, in order to force the stiffening material into it. While the machine is in use these rollers are kept constantly in motion, being driven by power. The particular modeof applying the power is not essential, so long as it will admit of the requisite adjustments of the rollers. In the example shown the roller B is provided with fast and loose pulleys (represented at O) for receiving a drivingbelt, D. Upon the shaft of this same roller is another pulley, a, from which motion is communicated to a countershaft, E, by suitable belt-connection with a pulley, b, thereon. Upon the opposite end of shaft E is a second pulley, c, from which a belt leads to pulley d,.upon the shaft of roller B, by which belt the last named roller is driven at the same rate of speed as .rollerB, but in the opposite direction. The boxes 6 e,

which sustain roller B, are movable in the side frames, and are held in the position to which adjusted by an adjusting-screw and interposed spring, as at g, as will be readily understood. The central parts of the rollers are turned out, (or they may be provided with collars at the ends,) as shown in Fig. 2, leaving between them a space for the passage of the hat-body, which space cannot be diminished beyond a certain distance, but which may be enlarged.

The hat-body to be operated upon is dipped in the sizing or stiffening material, for convenience contained in a tank or trough, F, be neath the rol1ei's,'and the dipping is so regulated or performed that none of the material is allowed to reach above the brim-line, which may be the line as y in Fig. 7. The hat-body so dipped is. then passed upwardly to the space between the rollers, is grasped by the rollers and carried on through. so that the material is pressed into the body. This operation is repeated as many times as may be desired until the hat is thoroughly stiffened. After the last dipping it is desired to press the hat very IOO slightly, only enough to remove the surplus material upon the exterior, leaving it smooth but perfectly full, so that when finished the brim will be thoroughly stiffened. To open the rollers sufficiently to produce this last pressure, I provide the spreaders G,which are in the form of sharp wedges movable up and down, being connected by rods G with a hinged treadle, G These spreaders enter between the boxes in which the rollers are mounted, each box being provided with a loose collar, as e, for the spreader to work against. By bearing down upon the treadle the spreaders are elevated and they force the two rollers asunder. The degree or distance by which the rollers are separated is determined by the length of stroke of the spreaders, and this is regulated by a screw-stop, h, which arrests the treadle in its downward movement. This screw is adjusted so as to give the length of stroke required for the particular styles of hats being operated upon, some being thicker at the brim than others. After the last dipping the operated has only to press his footupon the treadle before passing the hat between the rollers, when it will be finished off, in the manner above explained, as desirable, and upon releasing the treadle the rollers automatically assume the proper relative positions, so that the operations may be continued.

In operating upon ahat-body in the manner above explained, it is important that the rollers be kept perfectly clean, so that none of the stiffening material may soil or spot the crown portion, by which the hat would be ruined or damaged. (The crown is, if desired to be stiffened, operated upon by other means.)

To keep the rollers clean, it has heretofore been proposed to employ stationary knives or scrapers. These have not been found effectual, for the reason that lint from the hat-body and foreign substances find their way beneath the edges of the knives, raise them up, and allow the stiffening material to pass under, which material accumulating upon the rollers soils the hat-bodies. We employ two sharp knifeedges, as t i, in contact with the rollers. These knives are connected, as by the arms '5 'i, and are mounted upon carriers 73 t through which a revolving shaft, K, passes at the rear of the machine. This shaft is kept in motion by belt-connection with a pulley, k, upon roller B, and is made adjustableback and forth within the frame byscrews is, engaging with the boxes in which the shaft is mounted. Connected with the carrier of the rearmost knife is an arm, L, made to reciprocate as the shaft K revolves, the movement being obtained by the reverse screwthreads upon said shaft, as indicated at Z, and which will be readily understood. As the rollers revolve the knifeedges are made to reciprocate in contact with the roller-surfaces, and the edges thus cut any fiber or other'matter which may come in contact therewith, and

if any portion does force its way beneath the knives it will be cleaned off completely when, by the revolution of the roller, it is brought again in contact with the knife. Fromthe rear knife the material passes over and back to the trough, being directed thereto by a suitable splash-board, M. Upon the front knife is a shallow trough, m, for collecting the material passing over and directing it back to the dipping-trough.

The machine so constructed and arranged has been found in practice to admirably answer the purpose or object of the invention, as previously set forth.

Having now fully described our invention, what we claim as new therein, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a hat-stiffening machine of the character herein set forth, the two simultaneouslymovable rollers for operating upon the hat, said rollers having the central free open space for the passage of the hat-body between them, and combined with the driving mechanism and with each other, substantially in the man ner and for the purposes set forth.

2. In a hat-stiffening machine, the combination of the two rollers mounted and driven as explained, and made adjustable one with respect to the other, in order to increase the distance between the surfaces which bear upon the hat-body, substantially in the manner and for the objects named.

3. The two simultaneously-movable rollers, the boxes for supporting the same, the loose rings or collars mounted on said boxes, and the wedge-shaped spreaders arranged to force the rollers apart, combined and arranged for operation, substantially as shown and described.

4. In a hat-stiffening machine, the combination, with the treadle by which the rollerspreaders are operated, of an adjustable screwstop arranged to limit the extent of movement of said treadle and the spreaders connected with it, substantially as and for the purposes explained.

5. In a hat-stiffening machine, the scraperknives,-arranged in contact with the rollers and made to reciprocate thereon as the rollers revolve, substantially in the manner and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing we have hereunto set our hands in the presence of two witnesses.

JOHN COLEY HILL. JAMES DOODY.

Witnesses:

S. L. ROWLAND, GEO. HEIBERGER. 

